Monday, July 25, 2011

One of my weaknesses as a writer is an over-abundance of body language, particularly in dialogue. It's something I am very aware that I do, yet still, I tend to want to tell the reader every single thing my characters are doing as they speak. Stuff like this (as a really bad example):

Jane snorted. "I think you're stupid."
John frowned. "I think you're stupid too."
Jane folded her arms, her brows creased in anger. "You are such a stupid head."
"Oh yeah," John said, stepping closer, "well you're an even bigger stupid head."
"I can't believe I gave you my pudding cup!" Jane said, stomping her foot.
John laughed and winked his eye. "Well you can't have it back now," he said, sticking out his tongue.

Adding all that body language in with the dialogue really isn't necessary. It slows down the pace and the energy of the dialogue. Pick up a favorite book. Flip to a passage of dialogue. There is probably very minimal body language. Without all the body language, the reader is allowed to choreograph the scene for themselves, with the characters' words as their guide. There really is no need for all the extra stage directions :) Something that I tend to forget.

My first drafts are chock full of body language and it's something I spend a lot of time, and several passes, weeding out. Though...I think I'm getting a little better at reigning it in the first time around LOL

How do you feel about body language? Do you add a lot into your dialogue? When reading, do you like knowing every move the characters are making, or do you like supplying that on your own?

Friday, July 22, 2011

In honor of the last installment coming out, today is all about Harry Potter :D

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
Ron: Can you believe our luck? Of all the trees we could've hit, he had to get one that hits back.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
Fred: He can run faster than Severus Snape confronted with shampoo.

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's/Philosopher's Stone
“And what if I wave my wand and nothing happens?”
“Throw it away and punch him in the nose,” suggested Ron.

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's/Philosopher's Stone
Speaking quietly so that no one else would hear, Harry told the other two about Snape's sudden, sinister desire to be a Quidditch referee.
"Don't play," said Hermione at once.
"Say you're ill," said Ron.
"Pretend to break your leg," Hermione suggested.
"Really break your leg," said Ron.

Sunday, July 17, 2011

Okay, I promised you a giveaway :) In A Magical World, Alex and his little sister Izzy spend a rainy week going on all sorts of adventures by using their imagination. So...to enter to win a copy of A Magical World and an adorable little tote bag, just leave a comment below. Winner will be announced on Friday.

If you could go anywhere, do anything, be anybody or anything - where would you go? And who, or what, would you be?

Wednesday, July 13, 2011

I am very thrilled to announce that my picture book, A Magical World, has finally gone live on several sites. You can now purchase the e-version for the Nook at Barnes and Noble, for all Apple products at iBooks, the epub version for just about any ereader on Smashwords, and it will be available in the next week or so on Amazon, Borders, Sony, Diesel, and Scrollmotion. The print version is available at Lulu, and should be up everywhere else by the end of the summer.

I'll be doing a giveaway with a free copy of the book and an adorable tote bag next week, so stay tuned!!!

Monday, July 11, 2011

I'm back from California, tanned, tired, sad to leave my family though I had a blast being with them, and amazed at the truly crazy (and sometimes horrific) things that continuously happen to my family :) I'm writing a book, seriously, because stuff like this just doesn't happen anywhere else.

First off, I do want to point out that I had a great time out there. I LOVE seeing my family. My brother has a gorgeous pool that I spent tons of time in, a beautiful home that was awesome to hang out in, and there is nothing I love more than being around my family. I loved being there and I really can't wait to go again.

But...yeah, some stuff happened that I could have lived without LOL Here's a brief run-down of what this "vacation" looked like:

Day 1 - my niece was bitten by my grandmother's dog...in the face.

Day 2 - my nephew sort of broke his nose. No worries...it's slightly crooked but my doctor uncle said he can fix it, no problem.

Day 3 - (4th of July). We sort of misplaced my sweet grandfather for a few minutes. We found him up the street at a neighbor's house so it was all good. Then we went to the lake for an all day picnic and the firework show. My other nephew just about broke his foot getting out of the boat (he ended up with a hole in his foot and some major bruising...painful, but could have been worse). Then we lost Grandpa again. This time it was terrifying. We found him 3 miles away, 2 hours later. Luckily he doesn't remember being lost and he wasn't injured.

Day 4 - We got home around 1:30 am from the fireworks. At about 2:30, Grandma fell down the stairs. She cracked 3 ribs, reinjured (though thankfully did not rebreak) the arm she had broken 5 months previously, and had a compound break of both bones in her leg. This was a night I never want to relive.

Day 5 - Miracle! No injuries or misplaced people.

Day 6 - My son made up for Day 5 by cracking his head on the rock ledge by the pool and getting his finger stuck in a bike tire. He now has a goose egg on his noggin and is missing a chunk out of his middle finger...which he loves to show people...which, being the finger it is, is always interesting :D

Day 7 - Grandma gets transferred to the rehab center. My mother decided to sit on a rolling suitcase...and ended up flying head over heels and landing on the floor. By this time this week had been so crazy everyone was laughing too hard to get her off the ground...including my mom :D She is a bit bruised and sore, but luckily she didn't need the bed next to Grandma.

Day 8 - we made it home in one piece - though by this time I fully expected the plane to go down on the way there :)

I don't know what it is about my family, but stuff like this happens ALL the time. And really, except for the truly horrible situations, we've learned to laugh at a lot of our mishaps. :) If we didn't laugh, I think we'd all be certifiable by now (and we probably are) ;-)

I've got a rough draft outline drawn up for the book, which includes a lot of other strange stuff my family does...like my dad's habit of picking up furniture and other objects off the side of the road or his talent for quirky fix-ups (like the time he strapped a second radiator to his car with bungy cords because it kept overheating - it actually worked too though his mechanic about had a stroke laughing when he saw it)...I'll let you know when I finish the first draft :D

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